The Didact
The Didact was a highly ranked Forerunner Promethean that was in charge of the entirety of the Ecumene's Warrior-Servant rate over 100,000 years ago. He was considered one of the most powerful Forerunners in existence. His massive size and reputation made him known all throughout his empire. During his time as a general in charge of whole armies, the Didact fought against multiple foes, Ancient Humanity being one of them, but the Flood being another. While the former was defeated by the combined forces of the Ecumene, the latter proved to be an insurmountable challenge to the Didact He was a strict believer in the quasi-religious aspect of Forerunner society known as the Mantle. His faith in the Mantle would be tested after the Human Wars when he learned of a mysterious creature known as the Primordial, which was located on the ruined capital world of Ancient Humanity, Charum Hakkor. He was morally opposed to the Halo Array, the devices that would wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy because he felt that it clashed with the Mantle. Despite his arguments, the Didact was incarcerated in a meditation device known as a Cryptum where he would rest and meditate to this day. He was the husband of the Forerunner Lifeworker known as the Librarian. Biography Many thousands of years prior to the activation of the Halo Array, the Didact was already an immensely powerful Promethean within the Warrior-Servants. At around this time, The Forerunners were in combat with the Ancient Human Empire over what was believed to be an invasion of Forerunner space. The Didact fought against his foes with ruthless abandon, especially against the Human officer, the Lord of Admirals, an individual only known as Forthencho. Following his victory over the Humans, the Didact ordered all of the Humans transformed from their physical bodies into data in a process called Composing, using the device, the Composer. The Didact sought to learn from Humanity the cure for a terrible parasitic infestation known as the Flood. The Didact saw that the parasite was starting to be pushed back by Humanity. They believed they had the cure, and the Didact believed it as well. Though his efforts were in vain. The Flood had only chosen to back off, in a feint that drove the Forerunners, and indeed the Didact himself, into a false sense of hope that they could beat the parasite. Following the exiling of Humanity back to their homeworld of Erde-Tyrene, the Didact explored the ruins of Charum Hakkor, finding the Primordial, an ancient and inscrutible creature lying within a time-locked container. Upon freeing the Primordial, he learned a truth so unbelievable, so frightening, that it began the Promethean's descent into madness. The Forerunners were never to inherit the Mantle. Ten million years of belief was shattered in an instant. The Didact though still sought to find a way to defeat the Flood, mutating himself into another form in an attempt to stop the infestation from destroying his body. His attempt failed, leaving him disfigured and ugly. The only other choice was to Compose his fellow Prometheans and reincarnate them into mechanical warriors, which they did with willingness. The Didact realized though that this would not be enough to stop the Flood, and chose to gather more conscripts. This time though, he would gather Humans. The Didact Composed several populations of the degraded and devolved Humans, and added them to the growing army of Promethean Knights. The Librarian though had had enough of her husband's madness, and went so far as to shoot him, wounding him, and placing him into another Cryptum, this time as the last living thing in the Galaxy. With the Didact safe in his confinement, though without access to the Forerunner stores of information known as the Domain, due to it unbexpectedly being destroyed by the Halo pulse, he sits in darkness and silence. For well over a hundred thousand years he stays here, with little hope of being woken up. Though the Didact himself is confined to his Cryptum, aspects of him are still in the greater galaxy. At some point in history, the Forerunners were able to implant memories into the Chaos Emeralds. The Didact's was one of these memories that was given pseudo-sentience in order to convey a message. The Librarian somehow coded the Emeralds to unlock this information only when she believed an individual - a Human, would be worthy enough to see them. The Didact's memories, which took the Didact's form, speech, and personality, would inform the holder of the Emerald of the danger that existed in the center of the galaxy - an even older and terrible entitty known only as the Prisoner. The Didact was afraid of this, but only expressed it through these memories. Despite the life-like appearance of the aspect of the Didact, his physical form was still locked away in his shield world, Requiem. Personality The Didact was a man whose physical form said everything that needed to be said about him. As a Warrior Servant, the Didact was incredibly powerful and was able to best almost any other Forerunner or any other living being that was to face off against him. As a Warrior Servant, the Didact was proud, arrogant at times, tactical, and a realist. His tactical nature never left him no matter where he was. He was always thinking of ways where he could gain the upper hand. He also had the ability to be incredibly ruthless as was evidenced by the Human Wars where he struck down his foe in a way where it seemed like he was an angry god himself. His anger came from feeling that the Humans were encoraching on the Ecumene, and the second was that all of his children perished fighting this enemy. As the Forerunner Empire came to an end roughly 100,000 years ago, he still held true to his principles and believed that the Halo Array was a device of evil, conflicting with his wife's beliefs. Now stuck in the Cryptum on Requiem, and without the Domain to supply him with knowledge, the Didact is know likely insane beyond repair. Behind the Scenes My choice to include the Didact was an important one, since by the time Deception came about, I began to see just how important the fight was. The inclusion of the Prisoner, and making it known to the Didact would only raise the stakes for the stories to come. The Didact himself is not actually present in these stories. As of 3239, he is still within Requiem. The reasoning for this is because this universe is not the canon Halo universe, diverging from the official timeline because the Master Chief never arrived at Requiem, never releasing the Didact, and never setting these events in motion. This leads to another 'ancient evil' to take the stage besides the Didact, which makes it more akin to the ending chapters of Halo: Silentium than Halo 4. List of Appearnaces *Deception (First Appearance) Category:Forerunners Category:Character Category:Alien